The No. 1 Miami Hurricanes turned the 25th anniversary celebration of the 2001 National Championship into another statement win, rolling past Pitt 52-23 on Saturday at Hard Rock Stadium.
With legends Edgerrin James, Warren Sapp, Cam Portis, Andre Johnson, Ed Reed and Jimmy Johnson on hand, Miami improved to 7-0 and did it in familiar fashion: fast, explosive and relentlessly productive on offense. It marked the second time in three seasons that Mario Cristobal has guided the Coral Gables program to a 7-0 start.
Malachi Toney was the centerpiece of the afternoon. The 19-year-old wideout caught 16 passes for 194 yards and three touchdowns, and his work came at exactly the moments Miami needed it most. He accounted for four of the Hurricanes’ 10 explosive passing plays, including a 53-yard touchdown, and kept the offense moving whenever Pitt tried to make things uncomfortable.
The 16 receptions were also a little piece of program history. Toney broke Miami’s single-game catches record, and by halftime he had already piled up 159 receiving yards - more than Pitt had as a team at that point.
Miami also found answers on the ground against a Pitt defense that came in with the best rushing defense in the Football Bowl Subdivision. Freshman Javian Mallory led the way with 47 yards on seven carries and scored two touchdowns.
He was responsible for two of Miami’s four explosive runs, including a 16-yard rushing score. Mallory and Mark Fletcher Jr. combined for 88 of the Hurricanes’ 119 rushing yards.
“They made themselves hard to tackle,” Cristobal said. “The way they play, they’re going to get one or two extra hands on the ball.
The yards are going to be muddy and bloody. You better keep going in there because it opens up a lot of play action.”
Miami’s offense was nearly spotless for long stretches, scoring on eight of its 10 drives before the starters came out. That production broke down to seven touchdowns and a field goal.
Still, the day wasn’t perfect. The defense allowed 403 total yards and nine explosive passing plays, including a 53-yard catch by Panthers senior wide receiver Cataurus Hicks. Pitt quarterback Holden Geriner stayed in for most of the game and finished 18 of 32 for 268 yards and a touchdown without an interception.
Miami heads into next Saturday’s trip to North Carolina with the secondary still having room to clean things up.
In Other News...
BYU Faces A Complicated Ranking Drop After Costly Upset
Miami had no trouble staying put at No. 1 in the AP college football rankings after handling Pittsburgh, with quarterback Darian Mensah and wide receiver Malachi Toney again helping set the tone. The Hurricanes keep looking like the standard at the top, while the rest of the national picture got a shakeup behind them.
BYUs double-overtime loss to unranked UCF is expected to send the Cougars tumbling after they entered the weekend at No. 2, and Ohio State appears poised to move up into the No. 2 spot. What happens after that is less clear, with Notre Dame, Indiana and Georgia all in the mix for the top six and the final order depending on how pollsters weigh a messy weekend around the country. [Read more 🡒]
Miami Faces One Growing CFP Problem Despite Holding No 1
Miami held onto the No. 1 spot in the latest AP Top 25, collecting 59 first-place votes and keeping its place atop the sport as the College Football Playoff picture continues to sharpen. Ohio State moved up to No. 2 after overtaking BYU, while Texas made the weeks biggest climb among the contenders after its win over Ole Miss. Elsewhere in the poll, USC and Iowa fell out after losses, and Oklahoma State and Wisconsin moved into the rankings.
For Miami, the ranking is a reminder that being first is only part of the equation at this stage of the season. The Hurricanes are still in position to control their own path, but every shift around them matters as the field tightens and the margin for error shrinks. With Ohio State surging and Texas now pushing upward, Miamis hold on the top line may be secure for the moment, but the broader CFP pressure is only getting heavier. [Read more 🡒]
Miami Just Raised The Stakes For Everyone Chasing Them
Week 8 turned into a shakeup weekend across college football, and Miami came out of it with even more momentum than it had going in. The Hurricanes rolled past Pittsburgh to improve to 7-0, then moved to No. 1 in the AP poll as several teams ahead of them stumbled around the country, from BYU and Texas Tech to Iowa.
For Miami, the ranking is only part of the story. The bigger takeaway is how quickly the chase group is thinning out, with Indiana and Alabama escaping their own scares while others fell outright, and that kind of chaos tends to sharpen the spotlight on a program that has suddenly made itself the standard everyone else is trying to catch. [Read more 🡒]